Crescent moon
by hikari91
Summary: The story is set 150 years after Luffy's era. It centers around a girl who used to be a slave to the tenryuubito and her new life after escaping from them. I am currently taking characters! You can find the submission form in chapter 4/7.
1. Chapter 1

You'd think that if you made a mistake once, you won't make it twice. Let's say for example you get caught by human traders and sold to some terrible people who consider themselves gods, the tenryuubito for short. Next, imagine you actually managed to escape. A rational thinking human being would've been careful not to get caught again, but I guess I couldn't think rationally at the time. But yes, I got caught again. AGAIN. I heard them talk about a brothel downtown, so I guess that's where I'm going. I think a brothel would be better than the tenryuubito, no chains, only locked rooms at best. This translates to; a lot easier to escape. I looked around me and saw some other girls, they'll probably be sold to the brothel as well. One girl looked about the same age as me, about 15. The rest seemed older, around 18 I'd guess. The girl my age was crying, but I pretended not to see. When escaping it's a lot easier if no strings are attached to the people you're leaving behind. And since I was planning on escaping soon, I'd better not make friends. The older girls don't cry, but I could see a certain sense of hope around them I didn't quite understand, maybe they're planning on escaping too. Maybe the brothel we're being brought too is very easy to escape from. I certainly hope so. Though I don't think any place could keep me locked up forever. The tenryuubito had a lot of security, I was locked inside a room, chained to the floor, with guards almost constantly around. I have to say I'm actually quite proud of my escape success.

Then the car stopped, we'd arrived. We got out of the car and I saw an enormous building in front of me, easily the biggest in this red light district. It's symbol was a crescent moon. We're guided inside the building into a room where a woman was waiting for us. As we walked into the room I observed her, she was dressed in a revealing outfit. Loose, red pants that fell onto her knees, bracelets around her bare feet. A light blue top, which looked more like a bra to me, with a red, open vest on top. On her arms a few more golden bracelets dangled around. She had long black hair, tied back into a high ponytail, that matched her eyes, which were just as black. Her skin was darker than mine, though I wouldn't call her black. I looked down as soon as she prepared to speak.

"Hello everyone, my name is Mai."

I don't show any sign of hearing her, I just keep looking down, make no noise. One of the men who brought us here coughs deliberately.

"Ah yes, the matter of money." Mai takes an envelope out of a place I didn't think she could hide anything and hands it to the men. "These ladies will escort you out." She said, pointing at two other women wearing revealing clothing. The men take their money and leave.

"Now please look up." Mai said. "All of you." I look around me a little bit and notice I'm the only one holding my head down. Even the girl who's crying has her head held high. So I look up.

While I take a second look at the woman called Mai I see a certain motherly aura around her. Her black eyes look kindly into mine before I avert my gaze. I see her body again and notice that, though she is slender, she is not deprived of anything, she looks healthy. Do all women look like that here? I was used to a more malnourished look with bruises and wounds, actually I myself must look like that right now. I move my hand over my stomach and know my ribs stick out, my skin has this odd yellow color, indicating the lack of food my body has known. I haven't been able to wash my hair in days, so it's color is now far off my normal dark gray-brown. Maybe I could take a bath before I escape, I could use one. Steal some new clothes maybe, hopefully they also kept some less revealing clothing here.

"I know life has been hard for you girls." I hear Mai say, "And I'm not going to say life won't be hard here, it will. But I can promise you this; you'll get a meal three times a day and you'll be able to wash yourselves every other day. If a customer ever beats you, he will be shown the door, we are not that kind of brothel. I hope your life here will be slightly better than the lives you've known so far." I hear the sigh of relief from the other 15 year old girl, those are certainly better conditions than any of us have known so far. However it didn't take away my resolve to escape.

"Now, please follow me for your first bath here, let's get you cleaned up." Mai smiled and we all followed her. While walking around I noticed this building was like a maze. There were windows however, so I remained hopeful. I was also pretty sure there were some secret rooms and maybe hidden ways out. I was good at finding those kind of things, it's how I managed to escape the tenryuubito. I bet they didn't even know about the secret passageway, but they would now. We were then being led into an enormous room, I could see the steam of the hot bath, which was enormous too. Some women were already in there, taking a bath, they laughed while they talked to each other.

"Please hand your clothes to me, you will be given new ones after your bath." A woman who appeared next to Mai said.

"Thank you Diana." Mai said to the woman.

I took my filthy clothes of and handed them to Diana, I wasn't attached to them anyway, in fact I rather hoped I'd never see those clothes again. The older girls were already naked too, handing there old clothes over. But the other girl my age was fidgeting. I guessed she wasn't used to being exposed this way and was embarrassed to take her clothes of in front of all these women. Somewhere I could understand, having been a slave of the tenryuubito I bear their mark on my back. But right now, dignity is the last thing on my mind.

"Is anything the matter?" Mai asked the girl. The girl shook her head. "Please tell me your name." The girl looked up and visibly hesitated for a moment "Jeanne." She said.

"Okay Jeanne, will you tell me what's wrong?"

Jeanne blushed and shook her head, instead she lifted her shirt a little bit, she was severely scarred. I couldn't be completely sure but I thought she had severe burn wounds, the skin around her belly was twisted in a weird way and crumpled. "I see." Mai said "I guess you won't be able to entertain the customers with that but there's something else you can do." Mai then addressed Diana "Take this girl to my chamber immediately after her bath."

"Yes, Mai." Diana answered with a smile.

"Now please take your clothes of Jeanne and join the others in the bath."

Jeanne smiled and did as she was told, I however was skeptical about this 'nice treatment', if you can't entertain a guest in a brothel, than what's there for you to do? I came to two logical conclusions, one; they were going to sell her to some other place. Or two; they were going to kill her. I've seen it happen, if a slave wasn't useful anymore, he was disposed of. Like a horse with a broken leg, Jeanne wouldn't suffer long. However bad I felt for her, I was in no need of someone tagging along on my escape plan, she would only slow me down and we'd probably get caught. Again. No, this time I was going to be careful and smart about it. And it'd work, I was sure.


	2. Chapter 2

I turned around only to be halted by a strong, yet gentle hand. I turned around and saw Mai.

"Please tell me your name too." She said to me.

I swallowed once. "Aria."

"I see you've had some history with unpleasant people, Aria."

She was talking about my burn mark. "You could say that."

"You know it's illegal to employ anyone who is a slave to the tenryuubito?"

"Is it?" This mark was more of a burden then I'd ever thought.

"Yes, but don't worry, we're not going to send you back to them."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"Selena is quite protective of her maidens, as she calls them. She discovered that quite some time ago fishmen pirates used a special burn mark to conceal the fact that they were once slaves. They put this burn mark on every crew member, so no one would ever know if it was concealing an old burn mark or not. It will hurt a little, but that is what I'm offering you. If you refuse, I'm afraid one day the tenryuubito will find you again, and claim you."

"So, I'll get another burn mark?"

"Yes, sadly there is no way to heal your skin, we can only conceal it."

I actually quite liked the idea, this way if I ever got caught there would be no proof of me being a slave. But then I thought of something.

"How come I'm here, even though I have this mark?"

"Good question," Mai answered and looked thoughtful before continuing "I can only say that Selena hates the tenryuubito and has no problem defying them this way. That's all I can say, really."

"Okay, I'll do it." Better shot in the outside world without the damn thing anyway.

"Good," Mai smiled "we will have it done immediately after your bath, you will have to rest a little after that so you'll be send to your room, introductions will wait."

I nodded and turned around towards the bath. This was quite the package deal, an easy escape and something to conceal my burn mark. Tomorrow I would be free.

Walking into the enormous bath I overheard the other girls talking.

"We're so lucky to have ended up here."

"I know, we're in the crescent moon brothel, can you believe it?"

"Maybe we'll meet Selena!"

I couldn't really understand why they were so excited to be here, or meet this Selena person. Then again, I've been a slave since I was little. I haven't heard anything from the outside world, only what the tenryuubito ever talked about. Maybe this person was very famous? I remember a few names the tenryuubito often mentioned but Selena wasn't one of them.

"Of course we're gonna meet Selena, she's our boss now."

Oh, so she was the madam of this brothel, which would explain why she was famous around here. The madam of the biggest brothel in all the red light district, the most powerful woman here, in a way.

"I heard she was away for a bit, but will return tomorrow morning. I wonder what she's like."

"She's kind, I'm sure. I have never heard of better working conditions for people like us."

"Yeah, we're people who only know the dark world, yet she takes in everyone she can, no matter their history."

"I know we aren't meant to live under the sun." One of them said, and the others looked down. The conversation had turned sad, but I couldn't help continuing to listen.

"But maybe the moon isn't too much to ask for?" She finished.

"Just a shiver of light in this dark world, it's what this brothel stands for, isn't it?" Another girl answered with a half smile.

"And how could we ever hope for more?"

The girls sighed.

"It's all thanks to the Queen that this is possible though." A blonde girl stated, matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, if it wasn't for her, I guess this place would be like any other brothel here."

The girls went on chit-chatting after that. They had caught my attention at the mention of the Queen. That was a title I knew. From what I remember it was the title of some female pirate always causing trouble to the world government, with the Grim Reaper constantly by her side. The stories always made me shudder. But what had this pirate to do with the brothel? Then I remembered the crescent moon. That was also the sign of the pirates led by the Queen. She must be the protector of this place. Selena is probably a good friend to the Queen or something like that.

Out of the bath Diana led Jeanne and me towards our destinations. I was going to get dropped off at the doctors facility where they would conceal my burn mark, while Jeanne was being led directly to Mai's chambers. I wondered about what they'll do with her, but I wasn't going to stick around long enough to find out.

We arrived at the doctors facility and a girl, probably a nurse, opened the door. Diana nodded her head and gestured towards me. "That's the one." The girl looked at me and smiled, she's cute dressed in a short pink kimono. Her big brown eyes and blond hair made her even cuter. "Come in." she said. And I did. She led me towards a space where a fire was already burning. She then turned around.

"I'm Aurora, the head doctor here." I must've look perplexed because she laughed. "Yeah, that's the reaction I usually get. Now take your shirt of please." I do and she goes one talking. "I'm an acupuncturist, using the right places will make sure you won't feel a thing when I burn your skin. This here's the design you're getting." She showed me a picture of the sun, burned on somebody else's skin. "It may not be ideal, but it's what we all use, so lots of people have this burn mark, former slave or not. So it's the best way to conceal it. Now if you'll lie down over there, I'll begin. You'll feel some small pricks but that's it."

I nodded and lied down, just a moment later I felt a few tiny pricks and then the feeling in my back disappeared, I probably wasn't able to move my back an inch. Then I felt a light pressure on my back and it was gone. I felt some more pricks and could feel my back again. Aurora was apllying some cool salve on my back, which felt nice. "Made this myself, you'll feel some hurt now since it's a burn wound, but with this salve it'll be ok. I think you can handle the little pain that's left." I nodded in agreement. I remembered the time the tenryuubito burned their mark on me, it had hurt badly but I didn't scream, didn't want to give them that satisfaction. This was doable, even though it hurt the salve made it feel cool at the same time. It was a strange sensation.

"Thank you." It was the first thing I said to her. She smiled back at me. "You're welcome."


	3. Chapter 3

I was then brought to a room with some more women in it. By this time I already had a fair idea of the structure of this building. It was like a maze, yes, but I was used to working my way out of a maze.

"This is your bedroom, as you can see you share it with a lot of other people." Diana told me.

I nodded.

"Tomorrow you'll meet our mistress, Selena, you can rest for now."

"Thanks."

Diana left and I walked up to a woman looking about 25 years old. "Can I ask you something?"

She looked at me "Yeah, sure."

"Can I get some other clothes in here? I don't feel very comfortable in cropped tops."

The woman raised her eyebrow and looked bemused. "Newcomers really don't have a say in the clothes they wear, but I quite like that attitude. Come, we'll ask the dorm leader."

"You have a dorm leader?"

"Of course, there are a lot of women and men here, all divided into several dorms. Dorm leaders are chosen for their loyalty to Selena and their talents of course. The top dorm has Mai as it's dorm leader."

"I see." This was all very different from what I was used to, and what in the world did they mean with talent, and honestly, did I really want to know?

"Our dorm leader is Kochou." The woman tilted her head towards a woman lying on a sofa. "Kochou-neesan?" she asked. Kochou was a beautiful woman, with fair skin and long black hair. Her eyes were brown and she was wearing a short black and white kimono with a red obi."

Kochou yawned "What is it, work hours will start soon you know."

"This newcomer here asked for a different styling in clothes."

Kochou opened an eye "Turn around." She ordered. I did.

"Hmm, I can see why you're not comfortable in a cropped top, they put the sun mark on you, only half an hour ago as far as I can see. Must be hurting now. Very well, I'll permit it."

"Thank you." I said.

"Your name, newcomer?"

"Aria."

"Okay, Aria. I think a light dress would work best right now for you, something loose so it won't put any pressure on your burn mark. I presume you'll start working tomorrow?"

"Yes." But not in here.

"I have just the thing. You're about the same height and breast size as me anyways, so I'll lend you one of my old dresses." She walked over to a closet and returned with a short light pink dress and handed it to me. "Now hurry along, you and the other newcomers can rest today but us other girls have work to do right now."

I inclined my head and walked away with the dress. Light pink wasn't the best camouflage but it'd have to do, it was better than the cropped top that showed of my fresh burn mark, anyone would recognize me in an instant wearing that. Aside from that I really pretty much hate revealing tops.

As most of the women went out of the room to work, the newcomers like myself and some others stayed. It was time to escape.

I walked across the room towards the door when another girl called out. "Hey newbie, where're you going?"

"To the little girls room." I replied.

"You're taking the wrong door, the one to your left is the bathroom."

"Thanks."

I took the door to my left and entered quite a big bathroom. There were several stalls, I guess it was necessary since there were a lot of people. This was perfect actually, a room like this in a mansion like this would definitely have a secret passageway. I just had to find it quickly. I decided to try and find a door first, I sabotaged a sink making sure the place was full of water and quickly got myself a mob. Then I started searching for a door under the pretense of cleaning up. I was actually pushing the water to the sides of the room, to see if it disappeared between cracks not seeable by my eyes. No such luck. But I didn't give up yet. Meanwhile some girl had come in, helping me clean up and complimenting me on my quick initiative, most girls only cleaned up when ordered to do so.

When most of the girls were gone and some visiting the stalls I checked out the closets and what was behind them. Again, no luck whatsoever. I had stayed in the bathroom for an overly long time now and I knew it would get suspicious, so I decided to get out and try again when everyone was asleep. Finding an exit quickly was obviously easier said than done.

I rested and slept a few hours before returning to the bathroom for my second try. I checked the walls and the ceiling, even inside all the stalls, but no luck whatsoever. Maybe I was wrong and this room didn't contain a secret passageway. I slammed my fist against the mirror in frustration, and then I heard it. The sweet hollow sound of freedom.


	4. Chapter 4

I couldn't believe it, the mirror! Of course I had to safe the most obvious for last, while first thinking of harder places. No matter though, I had found it. After I carefully removed the mirror I saw no path, but something like a hole. I would fit in there but I had to say it wasn't ideal for most people. But I didn't stop to wonder why they would make a secret passageway this small.

I knew it was impossible to place the mirror back because there was no way I could turn around in that hole, so I had to be fast. I climbed in and with, though I say so myself, remarkable speed I made my way through the hole. I hoped that, like with most secret passages, this one was meant to lead outside in case of an emergency. Or in my case, escape. Though I guess they didn't make these for situations like mine.

After what I would say were ten minutes of crawling I arrived at the end of the tunnel. I carefully pushed the wall in front of me, not knowing where I would end up and what else stood in my way. It seemed to be something like a shutter, I glanced through the opening I'd made and found, to my relief, the outside a mere two meters below me. Dawn was starting to break and soon people would be on the streets, leaving the brothels to go home to their families. I let myself fall out of the hole, rolled right up and started moving. I was thankful to my lean and flexible body, my landing was soft, accurate and quick, so nobody on the streets noticed a thing. Now I just had to find the fastest possible way for me to get as far from here as I could.

Back at the crescent moon brothel.

"She's gone isn't she?"

"She is."

"Completely."

"Will we be punished?"

"It's not my problem!"

"Let's just get kochou-neesan, I don't know what to do."

"Yeah, you think she's in danger?"

"Who's in danger?"

The chattering girls looked around in surprise.

"Mai-neesan!"

"It's the other new girl, what was her name?"

"Aria!"

"Oh, yes, Aria! She's gone, probably for a little while now. She got in the bathroom and never came out. So when we went to look inside, the mirror was on the floor and there was a hole in the wall!"

The girls told Mai.

"We were just gonna get kochou-neesan." One added.

"Damn it." Mai exclaimed.

"Will we be punished?" A rather small girl asked.

Mai composed herself a little. "No, no, you're all fine. I'm just worried about that girl, **_they_** are coming today."

"Well, that's a problem."

"Kochou-neesan!" Indeed, Kochou had arrived and apparently listened to part of the conversation.

"Who are **_they_**?" one of the girls asked.

"Pirates." Kochou said.

"Of the worst kind." Mai added.

"And the worst part is…"

"The devil fruit user."

The girls inhaled in fear. A little update on the current affair of devil fruits will be in order. It is commonly known a devil fruit grants you a certain ability. Of course, they were quite rare in the past, but even more so now. The current fleet admiral, Shin Hikaru, made a claim over them. All devil fruits were considered extremely dangerous, the rumor had spread that the devil fruits indeed gave you new powers but to a heavy cost.

Your soul would turn into that of a devil. Therefore he issued the order to gather all devil fruits at marine headquarters for mass destruction. The trees that once bore fruit to these devil fruits were burned down one by one. Some people, pirates most commonly, managed to obtain some devil fruits anyway and kept them to themselves.

The Marine hunts down people, pirate or not, who are actually known for having eaten a devil fruit. Obviously because these people harbor a devil's soul inside them, which means they are evil and have to be exterminated. Because of this massive hunt and the current extreme rarity of devil fruits. A pirate who has devil fruit powers is very rare and widely feared. Most of them don't last long, because of the hunt. But if they do, this only makes them extra fearsome. Now, you can perhaps imagine the amazing fright the girls got at hearing there was a devil fruit user coming. Now, back to the story, in the next chapter! Yay ~!

* * *

so, now that I've explained the current situation regarding devil fruits, you can submit a character, if you like!  
I am mainly looking for evil guys, enemies and rivals, pirates or marines, but all ideas are welcome of course!

this is the submission form (with my thanks to ) :

**Name:**

**Nicknames:**

**Alias: (nickname on a bounty poster or what the world knows the character as)**

**Gender:**

**Age:**

**Birthday:**

**Former Affiliations: (before joining the main crew?)**

**Occupations: **

**Species: human, cyborg, fishman/woman, mermaid/man, skypeian?**

**Devil Fruit:**

**Hair:**

**Eyes:**

**Skin Color:**

**Height:**

**Weight:**

**Markings:**

**Other Physical Appearances: (accessories, anything strange?)**

**Clothing:**

**Weapon:**

**Personality:**

**Likes:**

**Dislikes:**

**Fears:**

**Hobbies:**

**Possessions:**

**Odd Habits:**

**History:**

**Devil Fruit Information (Delete Section if there is None!)**

**Name:**

**Meaning:**

**Type:**

**User:**

**Ability: [explain more about the ability, how does the ability work and what is it's weakness?] **

* * *

**End of Section**

**Strengths:**

**Weaknesses:**

**Attacks:**

**Color: (Representative Color?)**

**Animal: (Representative Animal?)**

**Smell: (what does he/she smell like?)**

**Favorite Type of Season and Island:**

**Favorite Foods:**

**Least favorite Food:**

**Themes: (Songs that you feel represent your character, for the sake of inspiration)**

**Quote:**

**Heroes: (who does he/she look up to?)**

**Dream:**


	5. Chapter 5

I tried to walk as slowly and casually as possible, there were a few people on the streets already and I didn't want to call for any unwanted attention. I hadn't gotten far to be honest. I had absolutely no idea where I was. The red light district seemed to go on forever. I also knew I couldn't ask for directions, I had to make sure to avoid human contact until I was well away from here.

After another fifteen minutes of walking I was still in the red light district, this was bad of course. I knew my way around castles, mansions, brothels apparently, but I don't remember having been in a town. I had no idea how to coordinate. Since it was a normal street it would be no use to search for secret passageways or the like, I realized then just how clueless I was about the outside world.

Then I heard a woman scream, I looked around me and I saw her. She was probably a prostitute, but not one I had seen around before. Probably from another brothel, judging by the amount of bruises and the quality of her clothes. I felt something gnawing at me but I knew I couldn't interfere in the scene right before my eyes.

A young blonde woman, bruises all over her body, some of them fresh. A few cuts, her clothes partially drenched with her own blood, so deep cuts. And the filthy scum surrounding her. Pirates, I thought. They were harassing her, threatening her with their knives. I swallowed once, hard. The pirates were pulling her by her hair, dragging her towards a dark alley. Just as I was about to look away the woman saw me, she looked me straight into my eyes and weakly reached out for me.

"Help me." She said, just loud enough for me to hear. The pirates laughed.

"Nobody will be helping you!"

My hands trembled in anger. "Damn it." I said. I was going to help her, what else was I supposed to do after a request like that? I'd hate myself if I didn't at least try.

"Leave her alone!" I yelled, as bravely as I could. There was no tremor in my voice, of which I was proud.

"Oooh! You hear that boys?" someone, probably their leader, said. The pirates laughed and whistled.

"What are you going to do, girl? Fight me? Or even better, take her place? Hahaha!"

What in the world had I gotten myself in to?

"I- I'll fight you!" I said. I hated the tremor I now heard in my voice, but I had never fought before and honestly, these people were scary. Most of them had scars, no doubt from battle. Aside from that, they had knives and swords, probably even guns. Whereas I had nothing at all. Stupid, stupid, stupid, I cursed myself.

"Hahahaha!" the pirates laughed at my reply. "Fine by me!" their leader said "I'll subdue you, little prostitute!"

"I am NOT a prostitute!" I screamed at him as I ran towards him. My best chance was to kick him, my legs were stronger than my arms. Aiming for his crotch, I wasn't planning on fighting fair, I lifted my leg and kicked. But I didn't hit my target, hell, the dude wasn't even there anymore!

"What the-." I muttered.

"Down here, girlie!" I heard and as I looked down I saw a growing fist coming towards me. I got hit and flew backwards. The pirates laughed.

"How-?" I asked no one in particular, but I got an answer nonetheless.

"Our captain's a devil fruit user! Foolish little girl!" The pirates laughed some more.

"Damn it." I muttered again. I stood up and rubbed my dirty hands on the now dirty dress. I charged again, but stopped myself before I'd actually hit him, and then I saw it happen. The captain shrunk, he could shrink and grow of his own free will!

"That's right girlie, I ate the human-human fruit, model gnome. But while I shrink I don't lose my physical abilities!" The captain proudly informed me. To make his point clear he had shrunk to a size of about 20 centimeters and kicked my legs. I was too perplexed to move. But his kick made me fly again, a bruise forming immediately on my leg. How the hell was I going to hit someone, let alone beat someone, who could avoid all my attacks simply by shrinking?

I kept attacking, punching, kicking, but to no avail, he was a lot faster then I was. I grew tired and in a matter of minutes I was lying on the ground, exhausted. The pirates laughed at me, their captain turned around towards the blonde woman again and I grabbed his ankle.

"No.." I said.

The captain turned around. "Will you take her place then?"

I looked at the woman, who looked back at me in fear. "I'm sorry." I whispered. I hated myself at that moment, I felt weak and incompetent.

But then I heard a voice.

"It's okay, little one." It was a female voice, nice and melodic.

The pirates laughed. "And yet another prostitute enters the scene!" I heard one of them say.

The nice, melodic voice then turned harsh. "Pathetic." She said.

"A little respect for our captain, whore!"

"That's right, he's a devil fruit user you know? Now cower in fear!"

The pirates yelled at the woman, clearly offended.

"Hm." Was al she said in reply. Then I heard another voice.

"Shall I take care of them, Selena?" This voice was male, deep and raw. Wait, did he say Selena? That couldn't possibly be a coincidence.

"Go ahead, make sure not to harm the girls though."

"Of course." The man pulled out a sword, my vision was a little blurry, but he had something on his back that looked like wings.

He shot forward with incredible speed, sheathed his sword again and while walking back towards the woman called Selena all the pirates fell down, unconscious. The captain in mid-shrinking motion. I had never seen a person so fast and so strong.

"Ah, he's shrinking huh. Looks like it was him. Captain Trihold." Selena said.

"My apologies, I didn't recognize him." The man answered.

"No worries Rae, this is nothing we can't handle after all." Selena walked towards the now half-shrunken captain Trihold, and lifted him up by the collar. "Business is off, I don't work with weaklings." She then practically threw him back on the ground.

"Bring the girls."

"Yes, Selena."

The dark man called Rae walked towards me and I felt myself being lifted before my consciousness faded.

* * *

Hey guys, thanks for reading my story! sorry it's a little short again, but I try to upload weekly!  
If you want to submit a character check chapter 4 for the submission form!  
I've been thinking of filling one of those in for one of the characters I've already introduced to you in my story, please tell me if you would be interested in that and whom you'd like to know more about!


	6. Chapter 6

I heard some voices after I slowly regained consciousness. I recognized the voices, they were Selena's and Aurora's.

"It's too bad really, he always brings in good information."

"No helping it, you know I hate men who force themselves on a girl, prostitute or not."

"And that's why we all love you, but now we'll have another problem."

"Yes I know, he's got quite a big crew, considering the little shrimp he actually is."

"You mean gnome!" The women laughed.

"Anyhow, we can't let them get into the red light district, it'll draw to much attention."

"Yes, shall I assemble a team?"

"I'll let Mai take care of that, you have enough to do as is."

Aurora yawned "Yeah you're right, Aria has a fractured bone and some bruises, the other girl got away better."

"Aria is new here, isn't she?"

"Yeah, about that…"

"I know she tried to escape, she got in here via the slave route, right? It's understandable. Like the other girls, I won't force her to stay here, I'll tell her what options she has when she's awake."

There was a short silence then before Selena continued. "Which I hear she is."

I was perplexed and before I knew it I blurted out: "How did you know?"

Selena entered the room and smiled "I didn't, but now I do. It's not polite to listen in on a conversation."

"Oh." Of course. "So, I don't have to stay here?" I asked.

Selena sighed "No, I don't force people to stay here, everyone who is here, is here of their own free will."

I must've looked confused, because Selena let out a giggle. "Many of the men and women in this brothel aren't free to go as they please. Because of family, something they did in the past, lots of reasons. Some of them actually enjoy this kind of work, but for the greatest part this brothel is a cover."

"A cover?" I repeated.

"Yes, a brothel is an ideal place to gather information. I bought it and let the employees that were here decide whether they wanted to stay or go. Most of them stayed, those are mainly the people who do the actual brothel work, sometimes new people come in. Most of these people don't know any other work and often have a family they are financially responsible for, these people would rather work here than in the other brothels. But that's not the point right now. I use this place to gather information, mainly on the government, the marines and pirates."

"Pirates? Gather information? Are you part of the resistance or something?" I asked boldly.

Selena and Aurora laughed. "No, no, we're pirates." Aurora said with a happy smile.

Finally, I got it. This place wasn't only protected by a famous pirate, but also owned. "You're the Queen." I said.

Selena smiled, and nodded. Looking every bit as regal as her nickname might suggest.

"And the guy who was with you? The dark one?"

"Yes, he's the one they call the Grim Reaper." Selena confirmed. "But we'll discuss that later, maybe. Now let me tell you your options. Aurora, would you ask Mai to assemble a team? We're gonna be busy."

"On it!" Aurora called behind her back, already running away.

Selena turned back to me, as I waited in excitement. " Option 1 is obviously not for you, since you tried to escape I don't think you'd like to stay here and do the actual work of a brothel."

I heavily shook my head, no way in hell!

"Option 2 would be to just walk away from here, I can take you with me on my ship and drop you of on an island on my way. Option 3 would be working for me, not in this brothel but as a pirate."

"You'd want me on your crew?" I asked. Afterwards I wondered why I didn't just immediately say, option 2 please! Maybe because being part of a crew would be like having a family, something I didn't know but had always longed for. I've never known my family. I wasn't even sure how I became a slave, was I sold? Abducted? Did I have a family waiting for me? Were they searching for me? I didn't know.

Selena smiled at me "You'd need some training of course, but you have the potential. In under 24 hours you managed to find a way out of this place and as your freedom was near you still chose to help a girl even though you probably knew you wouldn't stand a chance. This means you're crafty and brave, clever and stubborn. Perhaps a little foolish but your heart is in the right place and I like that.

I smiled and felt myself blush slightly. Selena then took my hand, it was the first time I actually noticed her odd look.

Her hand was as white as the bandage around my hand and as I slowly looked up I noticed her deep red eyes which now looked at me with compassion. But I could very well imagine the terrifying look she must have given captain Trihold with those exact same eyes. Her long hair was as white as her skin, if not whiter. At that moment she was wearing a long blue dress with a black long glove on only one arm. And in her hair a long black ribbon with a small ball, like a full moon, at the end.

"Think about it, I'll be here for a couple of days. But now, there's some trouble to take care of."


	7. Chapter 7

"Selena! Selena!" a voice called from outside the room.

"In here!" Selena called back.

Kochou came storming in. "We have a problem."

"What is it?"

"The marines are coming."

"They come here all the time, there's –" Selena paused as realization seemed to dawn on her "no, you couldn't possibly mean – "

"Yes, vice-admiral Damien is coming."

"God damnit!" Selena stood up and stomped the floor in frustration. I thought I saw some of the furniture move and even felt some pressure, but that was probably just me, woozy from my broken bone.

"Selena.." Kochou said, in what seemed like a warning.

"Yeah, sorry, sorry. But that means I'll have to go again." She then turned to me. "This Damien guy is bad news, I'm sorry but you'll have to decide now, which option will you take?"

I was perplexed "Like, right now?"

"Yes, right now!"

"Uuuuh."

"Now!"

"Okay, okay, option 2." I said. It was best for me after all, I was more of a loner anyways.

Selena then seemed to turn calm again and kindly smiled at me "Very well. Now, please follow me."

I followed her, feeling like I'd disappointed her, though that could be just me.

"Kochou, you're in charge! Aurora, take care of that other girl! Love you all!" Selena shouted in her goodbye. She then turned to me while we were quick-walking. "We'll go to Mai now, from there we will take out Captain Trihold and his crew and continue towards our ship, hopefully avoiding the marines."

"Okay."

We arrived at Mai's chambers where she and Rae where discussing something, Jeanne was also in the room. I could now take a better look and saw that the things on Rae's back which I had thought looked like wings, were exactly that, wings. Black wings, to be precise. He had an overall dark look over him, his hair was black and he dressed in all black too. But when he looked at me I saw he had very light, icy blue eyes. He also carried a sword, probably a katana, though I am no expert.

"Damien's coming." Selena announced. "We don't have any time, we'll just have to make do with the people here."

"Should be more than sufficient." Rae remarked.

Selena looked at Jeanne. "This is?"

"Jeanne," Mai answered. "she's new, like Aria. I already explained everything to her and she will be coming with us as well."

"Good." Selena said, giving Jeanne a warm smile.

"We'd better change and go." Mai held up some black clothes. It was almost night so I guessed those would be for easy cover. Rae stepped out of the room and we all changed.

"Kochou called the crew over the den den mushi, they're making a ship ready for us."

"Which one?"

"The Engetsu."

"Perfect, small crew, fast getaway."

We walked out of the room, Rae joining us. I felt very comfortable in these clothes, black pants with a black tanktop and some lace-up black boots. In my mind I waved the cropped tops and little dresses of this place goodbye.

"Here's the plan." I was brought back to attention. "We go towards their ship, there they're probably treating the wounds from Rae's attack. We knock them out, kill only when necessary, tie them up and make good use of the damn marines."

"How?" I asked.

"Since their captain is a devil fruit user he is definitely a wanted man, how much Mai?"

"Last note was 30 million belli, they're having a hard time catching him."

"So we kill two birds with one stone, the marines will be held up by their new prisoners and we won't ever be bothered again by that pathetic gnome."

Rae then halted us by stretching out his arm, he turned around and motioned for us to be quiet.

"That's their ship." He pointed towards the biggest ship in the harbor. "He has a crew of approximately 150 men, he himself is the only devil fruit user. People to look out for are his first mate, who uses a trident and the buccaneer. In comparison the threat they pose to us is minimal, but Aria and Jeanne should look out for themselves."

"Okay," Selena answered "in that case you take Mai and do the inside job, I'll stay outside with Aria and Jeanne, take out anyone who tries to run away."

"Roger." Mai and Rae said in unison.

Rae spread his wings, this was the first time I really saw how magnificent he looked, he was like a dark angel. Though what I saw right now was only beauty, I could very well imagine him deserving the name 'the Grim Reaper', after all I had already seen some of his strength. He lifted Mai up in his arms and took flight.

"He can actually fly?!" Jeanne proclaimed, while I thought the exact same thing.

"Is he some kind of devil fruit user?" I asked, unable to think of any other solution.

Selena smiled "No, no. He's a Skypiean, a Skypiean crow."

* * *

A Skypiean crow? yeah, find out more next week!

Also, I thought I'd put in the submission form again, so people don't have to constantly go back to chapter 4 to get it. Please remember that if you submit a character he or she can't be overpowered! unless he/she is a bad guy, though he/she would still need some kind of weakness though. If I am interested in your character I will PM you!

**Name:**

**Nicknames:**

**Alias: (nickname on a bounty poster or what the world knows the character as)**

**Gender:**

**Age:**

**Birthday:**

**Former Affiliations: (before joining the crew/marines/revolutionary army/etc?)**

**Occupations: **

**Species: human, cyborg, fishman/woman, mermaid/man, skypiean?**

**Devil Fruit:**

**Hair:**

**Eyes:**

**Skin Color:**

**Height:**

**Weight:**

**Markings:**

**Other Physical Appearances: (accessories, anything strange?)**

**Clothing:**

**Weapon:**

**Personality:**

**Likes:**

**Dislikes:**

**Fears:**

**Hobbies:**

**Possessions:**

**Odd Habits:**

**History:**

**Devil Fruit Information (Delete Section if there is None!) **

**Name:**

**Meaning:**

**Type:**

**User:**

**Ability: [explain more about the ability, how does the ability work and what is it's weakness?] **

**Please keep in mind that there are only a few "good guys" with devil fruit abilities. Most devil fruit users will be from the marine. So if you come up with a good guy devil fruit user, please explain why this person hasn't been caught by the marines yet. Also, don't make your character overpowered, weaknesses are necessary!**

* * *

**End of Section**

**Strengths:**

**Weaknesses:**

**Attacks:**

**Color: (Representative Color?)**

**Animal: (Representative Animal?)**

**Smell: (what does he/she smell like?)**

**Favorite Type of Season and Island:**

**Favorite Foods:**

**Least favorite Food:**

**Themes: (Songs that you feel represent your character, for the sake of inspiration)**

**Quote:**

**Heroes: (who does he/she look up to?)**

**Dream:**


	8. Chapter 8

"A Skypiean crow?" I asked.

"Yeah," Selena answered. "in Skypiea, a land in the sky, all people have wings, most of them white, some of them black. The ones with black wings are called crows."

"People with wings?" Jeanne said. "Like actual angels." She looked dreamy.

"Yeah," I said. "but the term crow somehow doesn't sound very nice to me."

"It's not," Selena answered "crows are very much looked down upon. The angels, the ones with white wings, say they are impure and will only cause harm. Because of this the crows live in a secluded section, away from the good, pure and innocent."

"But are they really that bad?" I asked. "I mean, Rae seems like a good person."

Selena smiled "That's a story for another time."

Yeah people, this is only chapter 8, no background stories just yet, muahahahaha!

Selena then took the long black ribbon from her hair and used it to tie her hair in a high ponytail. She loosened the ball that was attached to the ribbon and opened it. Inside where some other balls.

"Can you swim?" she asked us with a mischievous smile.

Seconds later Jeanne and I find ourselves swimming around the ship, Selena asked us to attach the balls to the ship. I guess there are some light explosives inside them and she's planning on sinking the ship. She acted a little strange when I asked her why she couldn't do it herself. Her exact words were:

"Well, uuuh. If any pirate comes out of the ship, I have to stop them right? You guys can't do that, right? So yeah, I'll just stay on land, where it's dry. To stop the pirates. Yeah."

I hadn't known Selena for long but she didn't seem like a person to hesitate, she clearly has some kind of fear for water though. Maybe she almost drowned when she was a kid? Anyhow, I attached the balls to the ship and swam back to the shore. All in all I must say I did pretty well considering my broken bone, I only used my legs to swim and I was still faster than Jeanne. I guess I have quite the talent for swimming.

"I attached them." Jeanne said when she came back.

"Okay, now watch." Selena said, mischievous smile still intact. "Five, four, three, two, one."

After she counted down something happened to the ship, it wasn't quite an explosion, maybe a very small one. But the ship cracked somehow and slowly started sinking.

Selena laughed "Yes, it worked, it worked! You guys saw it too, right?"

"Those balls did that?" Jeanne asked, perplexed.

Selena nodded "Amazing isn't it?"

"I didn't even hear a thing besides the wood cracking!" I said. "What in the world were those balls?"

Selena winked at me "An experiment."

Before long pirates started running or swimming out of the ship, Selena had given us some ropes. She would knock the pirates out and we should tie them together. Selena smiled when she saw the first pirates coming out, like she enjoyed the idea of beating them up.

As they reached the shore she started running towards them. She took the first one out by using a lariat, then using the unconscious body by throwing it at two other pirates with her gloved arm. She jumped onto the bodies of the three pirates she had knocked down within a few seconds and from there jumped to her next adversary. She spun around in the air and used her leg to kick a pirate, sending him flying back.

It went on like this for a while, the pirates stood no chance at all and Jeanne and I had trouble keeping up with Selena. We tied together pirate after pirate.

"Where do you think you're going, weaklings?" A voice shouted. I looked around until I found the probable owner of the voice. It was a guy with a trident, the first mate we had been warned about.

I looked at Jeanne and we came to the mutual silent agreement to proceed with caution.

The pirates looked panicky. Some shouted "Sorry, sorry!".

"This woman's crazy!" Another shouted.

Meanwhile, Selena simply went on knocking out pirates.

The first mate with the trident smiled a crooked grin. He inhaled, seemingly making his naked torso bigger.

"Woman! I'll be your opponent!" he screamed.

Selena honestly couldn't be bothered. She just went on, treating the guy like some big loud fly, just a little more annoying than the ones she was currently dealing with.

This, of course, annoyed the annoying fly. "Fine," he said "if that's the way you want to play it."

He jumped down from the sinking ship, charging at Selena. The first one, by the way, the others merely tried to run away from her.

"Meet your doom!" he screamed before launching his first attack with his trident, a forward strike.

Selena avoided by jumping up and landing on the trident itself. She then kneeled down on it, so she and the first mate were almost on the same eye level.

"Such a loud fly." She said, then sending him flying with a backwards kick.

* * *

what were those little balls? what do you think? I love speculations haha!

I'll try to make the next chapter a little longer, see you next week!


	9. Chapter 9

This is my personal favorite chapter so far! I hope you'll enjoy :D

* * *

This was amazing! Selena was amazing! She was handling all those pirates on her own. I caught myself thinking: "I want to be able to do that." Not even the first mate lasted longer than one kick.

Mai and Rae came out of the ship with captain Trihold, who was unconscious.

"Selena, look out!" Mai screamed.

I turned around and saw a man running towards Selena, he put his hands in front of her eyes and said: "Guess who?"

"Ooh god no." Selena replied.

"Wrong!" the man said "We both know you know who I am! Aaah I remember the night you screamed out my name in pure pleasu-"

Selena had launched a kick towards the man, which he easily caught in his left hand.

"-re." He had lifted Selena up and was now carrying her, princess style.

"Damien…" Selena warned "let me down!"

"I'll never let you go, my love!" he replied.

This was Damien? The marine, the vice admiral? I question ally looked towards Mai.

"Yeah, that's him." She mouthed.

"Let. Me. Down!" Putting stress on each word Selena told him one more time. At the last word something happened and both Damien and Selena were lying on the ground.

Damien rubbed his head "Amazing," he said "every time I'm with you there's this incredible force that makes me fall for you all over again! Literally AND figuratively!"

Selena rolled her eyes and quickly stood up, taking as many paces as she could away from him. Meanwhile, Mai and Rae had come down from the ship, still carrying the unconscious captain.

"What's the situation?" Selena whispered.

"All pirates have been taken care of. No troubles." Rae answered.

"The trouble is this guy," Selena said "now that he's seen me the plan's all ruined. How'd he get here this fast?"

"Our ships have been updated, some mechanical unit makes them a lot faster now." Damien answered.

"How did you hear me?"

"With the ears of my heart!"

Jeanne giggled "He's totally in love with you." She remarked.

"No kidding," Selena rolled her eyes "a girl really can't have a one-night stand anymore." She sighed.

"Why did you even sleep with a marine? And a vice-admiral at that?" Mai asked teasingly.

"How was I supposed to know he was some big shot marine? He was wearing casual clothes, and let's be honest, he's hot." Selena whispered in the smallest voice she could muster.

And he was, Damien was a well-muscled man with dark hair and green eyes who looked quite good in his dark green suit with the marine coat draped over his broad shoulders.

Rae walked towards Damien with captain Trihold, dropping him before the vice-admirals feet.

"I believe you've been looking for this guy." Rae said in a cold voice, giving me the shivers.

Damien however, wasn't fazed at all. "So now you're a carrier pigeon?" He replied in a voice just as cold.

Rae snorted. "How 'bout you make yourself useful as a marine instead of swooning over a woman who really doesn't want to see you."

Damien laughed. "Jealous are we?"

While they glared at each other it was like I could actually see the tension between them. Then I noticed something. I tugged Selena's shirt to get her attention.

"Not that I'm an expert," I started "but don't marines usually come in, well, groups?"

"Yeah.." Selena answered.

"Then where are the rest of 'em?"

That's when realization hit her too. "We have to get away from here, quickly."

"Yeah, but how are we gonna do that? Rae and Damien are staring daggers at each other right now, but as soon as you move they'll notice."

"And there's no way Damien'd let us go just like that." Selena added. "Damn it! This is why I wanted to avoid all this."

Then we heard something like a thud. I turned around and saw Damien holding Rae's balled up fist, right before his face.

"Oh-ooh." We all said in unison.

Rae spread his wings and took flight, holding onto Damien. Damien laughed and threw of his marine jacket with a simple movement of his free hand. Rae then turned around and flew towards the ground at top speed, for a moment I was afraid they were both going to crash. Then at the last second Damien turned the tides around securing himself a safe landing on top of Rae. Damien planted his feet on Rae's wings and was sitting on top of him within a second.

"What ya gonna do now, little pigeon?" He smirked.

"Shouldn't we help him?" I asked, worried.

Mai and Selena shook their heads. "You shouldn't interfere in a fight between men." Selena said.

"Stop trying to sound cool," Mai said "Rae gets all cranked up if we interfere in his fights, something about his pride." She rolled her eyes.

Selena blushed a little "Men.." she said, heaving up her shoulders as if to say, "can't do anything about it."

"Heeeh." Rae said, sounding impressed. "For a pervert you're not so bad."

"I am not a pervert!" Damien proclaimed.

At that point his hold seemed to weaken and Rae created a big movement with his wings, successfully getting Damien off. Rae drew his sword, getting serious. I couldn't see very clearly since it was quite dark, but at this point I was pretty sure it was a katana.

"One-sword style." Rae began "Rain."

Within the blink of an eye it was like Rae had disappeared from his spot only to be right in front of Damien within that same blink.

"This is his special move" Selena whispered "look closely."

I watched, but I barely saw what happened. Rae was inhumanely fast. He moved his blade so fast it poured down on Damien like the rain itself. Though Damien tried he couldn't possibly avoid the attack and got hit multiple times. I didn't actually see that happen but I was sure he got hit because of all the wounds and blood suddenly appearing all over his body.

Damien seemed shocked but soon recovered himself, after a few moments he managed to catch Rae's blade between his hands, at that point he was panting.

"For a pigeon, you're not so bad either." He commented.

Rae smirked and withdrew his sword from Damien's hands, but before he could strike again Damien launched a series of punches. This time I saw Rae's body contorting in strange ways, first being hit right then left, up, down and so on. Damien too, was very fast. Soon however, Rae noticed the rhythm and managed to get out of range. Both guys were panting now.

"I wish you'd get serious." Rae said.

"What makes you think I'm not?" Damien answered.

"You haven't even used your devil fruit powers." Rae said, accusingly.

Damien laughed "And why do you think I have a devil fruit ability?"

Rae snorted "Come on, you're a marine vice-admiral. You know who we are" Rae motioned towards himself, Selena and Mai with his free hand "and still you honestly believe we have no idea what you marines really use all those gathered devil fruits for?"

* * *

And did you like it? Please review!

This was my first time writing a battle scene with about equal opponents, so I'd like it if you told me how I did or how I could make the fihgting scenes even better!

see you next week!


	10. Chapter 10

sorry for the long wait! Here's another chapter, hope you enjoy :)

* * *

"Hooooh." Damien said in admiration. "Nothing less from the infamous Queen herself." He made a little bow towards Selena. "Your network must be far greater then we assume."

"Don't mock me." Selena spat.

"I would never!" within a millisecond he was standing in front of Selena, holding her hand.

At first I was shocked, but Mai was motioning me and Jeanne to move forward. So Selena had let him get to her so we could start moving away? I looked towards Rae and saw his reluctance, but he had also seen through Selena's plan and was starting to spread his wings.

Selena softened her gaze and caressed Damien's face "Dear Damien?" She said in the sweetest, most hypnotic voice I ever heard.

"Yes, my love?" He answered, once more he was the love struck fool I'd seen that first time.

"Will you do me a favor?"

"For you? Anything!"

Selena allowed a mischievous smile to play on her lips "Close your eyes."

Full of joy, he obeyed.

Selena gently made him let go of her hand and reached for Rae's, who was now silently soaring above her. They were quite the team, both Mai and Rae had completely seen through Selena's plan without a single exchange of words. Rae had quite the bitter look on his face though, like he'd rather punch Damien then just leave.

"We have to hurry." Jeanne whispered "I can hear the other marines coming."

Mai nodded, she motioned towards the forest so Rae could see and we quickly hid away.

"Vice-admiral! Vice-admiral!" We heard only seconds after we entered the forest, we were just in time.

"Shhhh!" Damien said "Can't you see I'm about to receive a kiss from a beautiful woman?"

"Uuuh, what woman, sir?"

"What?" Damien opened his eyes. "SELENAAAAAAAAAA!"

At that point we decided to hurry up. Soon we reached a magnificent, yet rather small, ship. The Engetsu. The crew was already fully prepared and we left immediately.

On board you could distinctly see Selena was the captain, people came to her immediately and she set orders for everyone. She was clear and direct, thanks to that everybody knew exactly what to do.

Jeanne and I were to be dropped off at a nearby island called Summeraine island. It supposedly was an island where it rained almost year-round. We knew we would be close as soon as it started raining.

I spent a few short days with Selena, Rae and Mai, but they were my happiest days yet. I also grew fond of Jeanne, she was a sweet girl. She had some kind of aura around her, one of kindness and strength, which I admired. Being the soloist I was I had never considered myself kind until the day Selena pointed it out to me. When the first drops of rain fell, I wasn't sure if I wanted to be a soloist anymore. But I couldn't possibly become a pirate, right?

Within an hour we reached the harbor of Summeraine island and Jeanne and I were dropped off.

"Thank you, for everything." I said.

Selena hugged me "You're very welcome."

She then turned to Jeanne "Good luck." She told her, and they hugged as well.

Rae gave each of us a little pat on our heads. "You'll be fine." He told us.

Mai did a little dance with us and we laughed. In my short days on the ship I often danced with Mai, it was lovely. When Mai moved, her long black hair moved like a different entity, she contorted herself in ways I was afraid to dream of. The way the many bracelets around her ankles and arms would jingle, as if part of the music. How I loved those evenings of dancing, music and drinking. But that was over now.

It was time for real life to kick in again, and thanks to the last few days I knew what I wanted to do with my very real life. I wanted to find my family, my mother or father, preferably both. Maybe I had siblings, or grandparents? Whatever it was I had, I would find it. And when I found the people I could call my family, my life would be complete.

After we said our goodbyes Jeanne and I walked away, into town. The Engetsu would stay harbored here for the day, to gather supplies among other things. I had the feeling though that Selena was staying the rest of the day in hopes of Jeanne and I returning.

It seemed as if Jeanne had a plan of her own though, before she got captured by traders, which was right after she got burned, she was a fencing pupil. Her Master was very famous, or so she said, I had never heard of him before. She wouldn't tell me how she got burned though, it must've been a terrible experience, whatever caused it.

At a crossroad we parted ways. If only at that time I had looked at the walls, full of the wanted posters of sought pirates and other criminals. Then, I may have seen my face among them.


End file.
